Thursday, 26 April 2012

Advantages and Disadvantages of Water Reuse and Recycle

Water is a vital
element of life and there is no life without water. Life itself over 3 billion
years ago miraculously started in the water. When scientists explore the other
planets, they are looking for water as without it there would be no life. About
70% of the earth is covered by water and only 2.5% of it is fresh water but
only 0.01% is potable. By considering the positive rate of population growth in
the world, it can be said that there might not be enough water in the future
for human consumption, plants and animals. 31 countries in Asia and Africa are in
absolute water shortage and this number will increase to 48 in 2025. Still 2.5
billion people do not have any sewage facility. Over 80% of sickness in
developing counties is caused by water pollution. These numbers are indeed
shocking but they put more attention to the water issue. When I was a child, I
was told that the third World War would be because of the water shortage.

People in big cities
with always access to water have taken this essential element of life as
granted and maybe that is the reason that even in very developed countries with
material recycling rate above 60%, water recycling still has a very small percentage.
There have been so many awareness campaigns regards to wiser water consumption around
the world but personally I feel, till people do not experience or understand
the water shortage they cannot be really wise consumers. The amount of water
that we in big cities let it run from our tabs when we wash dishes, shave our
face or brush our teeth might be the same amount of water a family use in a
village in Africa for a week. The sad point is that the water that is being
wasted in our houses has reached there at the first place with difficulties.
The water was collected in catchment areas, then it was treated and next through
the pipes and pumps which covers the whole city it came to our homes. After
usage, through different pipes it would go back to a treatment plant and then
released to the river. The fact is that still in many developed countries the
same clean water goes to the toilet flush. As both water and wastewater is not
cheap, there has been some recommendations and suggestion to reclaim and
recycle the wastewater. There are different methods like decentralized
treatment plants in building to treat the water not for drinking but for using
it in the toilet for flushing. In this short paper, it is tried to discuss the
advantaged and disadvantages of water reclamation and reuse.

Reusing
wastewater would improve sustainability and secure the water with much less
pressure on environmental sources in addition to many economic benefits. If
wastewater is treated enough it can be reused for agriculture, landscaping
irrigation, industrial processes, toilet flush and cooling water in power
plants. The water used for agriculture and landscaping irrigation might not be
proper for drinking but according to the United States EPA, there have not been
any human health problems due to contact with recycled water that has been
treated to the required standards. By reusing treated wastewater, of course the
cost will decrease as for the mentioned examples there would not be necessary
to treat the water in its highest quality. It is also great method for a
country to reduce its carbon footprint as it would need less treatments and
transportation of wastewater to the treatment plants. Recycling water is a
great method for regions with less annual rainfall as they can conserve more water.
In addition to the benefits above, it decreases the use of fresh water which
can conserve the balance in ecosystem as well as less water to treat and as a
result less water to discharge into the sensitive waters.

However, reusing
wastewater is not without risks and it can have negative impacts on human and
the environment around it. The most important factor in water reuse is hygiene
and as it was mentioned earlier, water is the source of life and that includes
life of so many pathogens. Pathogens are the major concerns when it comes to
human health. Usually reverse osmosis is a great method as it can remove the
chemicals and pathogens from the wastewater and then expose it to UV light or
oxidation for disinfection. Nutrients, organics and heavy metals in wastewater are
the contaminants that if not properly treated can seriously threat the human’s
health and his surrounding ecosystem. Other characteristics of wastewater such
as salinity, chloride, nitrogen and phosphorus are other factors than need to
be considered for different purposes of water recycling. Usually household
wastewater does not contain any heavy metal but the concentration of new types
of chemicals like hormones and residue of the contraceptives is increasing in
the wastewater and it can also have unknown impacts on the ecosystem. Another
problem could be different infrastructure to separate the fresh water from the
flush water in a building which would end up in higher costs.

By considering
the pros and cons, water reuse would be much better even though in some aspects
it might increase the costs. Water is the most important element of life and
there would be no life without it. As a result, human has to do anything in its
power to keep this valuable resource always available and clean. Wise man said
once that we did not inherit the world from our ancestors but borrowed from our
children.

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Who is Mr A?

I received my first degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2004 and later in 2006 got my master degree in Business IT. I worked for two years as Software Developer and Information System Manager in the UK. I also cooperated with some charity projects in Sri Lanka, UAE and Cameroon.
I am currently doing my research in cleaner production and waste minimisation.